Muslim boy killed and woman wounded in Illinois hate crime motivated by Israel-Hamas war, police say
Ahmed Rehab, left, executive director of the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, embraces Odey Al-Fayoume, father of Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, at a news conference at the Muslim Community Center on Chicago's Northwest Side, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023. Authorities say a 71-year-old Illinois man has been charged with a hate crime, accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old boy and seriously wounding a 32-year-old woman, in Plainfield Township, because of their Islamic faith and the Israel-Hamas war. The Council on American-Islamic Relations identified the victims as Wadea Al-Fayoume and his mother.
The home where a boy was killed and a woman critically injured after they were stabbed by a man who targeted them because they were Muslim is shown in Plainfield, Ill., Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023.
The home where a boy was killed and a woman critically injured after they were stabbed by a man who targeted them because they were Muslim is shown in Plainfield, Ill., Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023.
Oday Al-Fayoume, father of Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, attends a news conference at the Muslim Community Center on Chicago's Northwest Side, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023. Authorities say a 71-year-old Illinois man has been charged with a hate crime, accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old boy and seriously wounding a 32-year-old woman, in Plainfield Township, because of their Islamic faith and the Israel-Hamas war. The Council on American-Islamic Relations identified the victims as Wadea Al-Fayoume and his mother.
Oday Al-Fayoume, father of Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, attends a news conference at the Muslim Community Center on Chicago's Northwest Side, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023. Authorities say a 71-year-old Illinois man has been charged with a hate crime, accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old boy and seriously wounding a 32-year-old woman, in Plainfield Township, because of their Islamic faith and the Israel-Hamas war. The Council on American-Islamic Relations identified the victims as Wadea Al-Fayoume and his mother.
This booking photo provided by the Will County Sheriff鈥檚 Office, in Joliet, Ill., shows Joseph M. Czuba. Authorities say Czuba has been charged with a hate crime, accused of fatally stabbing a young boy and seriously wounded a woman because of their Islamic faith and the Israel-Hamas war.
Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, speaks at a news conference held at the Muslim Community Center on Chicago's Northwest Side, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023, for the family of Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, who was stabbed to death by their landlord in Plainfield Township.
State Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid, D-21st District, embraces Oday Al-Fayoume, father of Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, during a news conference at the Muslim Community Center on Chicago's Northwest Side, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023. Authorities say a 71-year-old Illinois man has been charged with a hate crime, accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old boy and seriously wounding a 32-year-old woman, in Plainfield Township, because of their Islamic faith and the Israel-Hamas war. The Council on American-Islamic Relations identified the victims as Wadea Al-Fayoume and his mother.
A family member of Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, holds prayer beads at a news conference at the Muslim Community Center on Chicago's Northwest Side, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023. Authorities say a 71-year-old Illinois man has been charged with a hate crime, accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old boy and seriously wounding a 32-year-old woman, in Plainfield Township, because of their Islamic faith and the Israel-Hamas war. The Council on American-Islamic Relations identified the victims as Wadea Al-Fayoume and his mother.
Oday Al-Fayoume, father of Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, attends a news conference at the Muslim Community Center on Chicago's Northwest Side, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023. Authorities say a 71-year-old Illinois man has been charged with a hate crime, accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old boy and seriously wounding a 32-year-old woman, in Plainfield Township, because of their Islamic faith and the Israel-Hamas war. The Council on American-Islamic Relations identified the victims as Wadea Al-Fayoume and his mother.
CHICAGO (AP) 鈥� An Illinois landlord accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old Muslim boy and seriously wounding his mother was charged with a hate crime after police and relatives said he singled out the victims because of their faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas.
In recent days, police in U.S. cities and federal authorities have been on high alert for violence driven by antisemitic or Islamophobic sentiments. FBI officials, along with Jewish and Muslim groups, have reported an increase of hateful and threatening rhetoric.
In the Chicago-area case, officers found the 32-year-old woman and boy late Saturday morning at a home in an unincorporated area of Plainfield Township, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) southwest of Chicago, the Will County Sheriff鈥檚 Office said in a statement on social media.
Relatives and a Muslim civil liberties and advocacy group identified the slain boy as the wounded woman鈥檚 son.
The boy was pronounced dead at a hospital. The woman had multiple stab wounds and was expected to survive, according to the statement. An autopsy on the child showed he had been stabbed dozens of times.
鈥淒etectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis,鈥� the sheriff鈥檚 statement said.
According to the Will County sheriff鈥檚 office, the woman had called 911 to report that her landlord had attacked her with a knife, adding she then ran into a bathroom and continued to fight him off.
The man suspected in the attack was found Saturday outside the home and 鈥渟itting upright outside on the ground near the driveway of the residence鈥� with a cut on his forehead, authorities said.
Joseph M. Czuba, 71, of Plainfield was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crimes and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, according to the sheriff鈥檚 office. WLS-TV reported that Czuba was scheduled for an initial hearing on Monday afternoon at the county courthouse in Joliet, according to the Will County State鈥檚 Attorney Office.
Attempts to reach Czuba or a family member were unsuccessful Sunday. His home phone number was unlisted. Messages left for possible relatives in online records and on social media were not immediately returned. The sheriff鈥檚 office and county public defender鈥檚 office did not immediately return messages about Czuba鈥檚 legal representation.
Authorities did not release the names of the two victims.
But the boy鈥檚 paternal uncle, Yousef Hannon, spoke at a news conference Sunday hosted by the Chicago chapter Council on American-Islamic Relations where the boy鈥檚 father was in attendance. There the boy was identified as Wadea Al-Fayoume, a Palestinian American boy who recently had turned 6. The organization identified the other victim as the boy鈥檚 mother.
鈥淲e are not animals, we are humans. We want people to see us as humans, to feel us as humans, to deal with us as humans, because this is what we are,鈥� said Hannon, a Palestinian American who emigrated to the U.S. in 1999 to work, including as a public school teacher.
The Muslim civil liberties organization called the crime 鈥渙ur worst nightmare鈥� and part of a disturbing spike in hate calls and emails since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. The group cited text messages exchanged among family members that showed the attacker had made disparaging remarks about Muslims.
鈥淧alestinians basically, again, with their hearts broken over what鈥檚 happening to their people,鈥� said Ahmed Rehab, the group鈥檚 executive director, 鈥渉ave to also worry about the immediate safety of life and limb living here in this most free of democracies in the world.鈥�
In response to the increased threats, the Illinois State Police are communicating with federal law-enforcement and reaching out to Muslim communities and religious leaders to offer support, according to a Sunday press release from Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker.
鈥淭o take a six-year-old child鈥檚 life in the name of bigotry is nothing short of evil,鈥� Pritzker said. 鈥淲adea should be heading to school in the morning. Instead, his parents will wake up without their son. This wasn鈥檛 just a murder 鈥� it was a hate crime. And every single Illinoisan 鈥� including our Muslim, Jewish, and Palestinian neighbors 鈥� deserves to live free from the threat of such evil.鈥�
President Joe Biden echoed that sentiment Sunday, saying in a statement: 鈥淭his horrific act of hate has no place in America, and stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe, and who we are.鈥�
The Justice Department opened a hate crime investigation into the events leading up to the attack, Attorney General Merrick Garland said.
FBI Director Chris Wray said on a call with reporters Sunday that the FBI is also moving quickly to mitigate the threats.
A senior FBI official who spoke on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Bureau said the majority of the threats that the FBI has responded to were not judged to be credible, adding that the FBI takes them all seriously nonetheless.
The official also said that agents have been encouraged to be 鈥渁ggressive鈥� and proactive in communicating over the last week with faith-based leaders. The official said the purpose is not to make anyone feel targeted but rather to ask clerics and others to report to law enforcement anything that seems suspicious.
Associated Press reporters Jesse Bedayn in Denver and Eric Tucker in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.